Knights of the Golden Circle

[RJNorton]

David Keehn passed along the following information:

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"See below for information on the KGC segment that will air on "Codes and Conspiracies of the Civil War", a show featured on the American Heroes Network at 9 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Formerly called The Military Channel, this is a premium channel for RCN and Service Electric in our area, but I believe it's part of the regular package on Comcast and the dish networks.

I spent a morning being interviewed for the show in Reading back in December 2015. The producers then traced the march of the 300 strong KGC Heidelberg Brigade down Penn Street when they marched to the courthouse to protest the April 1863 arrest of their leaders. At dusk, they also filmed at a barn out near Womelsdorf where a local historian confirms the KGC in Berks County held meetings (see the 1895 book "Enemies In The Rear; Or a Golden Circle Squared by Francis T. Hoover). As you know, the Lehigh County historical record contains similar references to meetings near Lynnville and other locations.

I have not seen the segment but from the promo, it looks like the KGC will be sensationalized by Hollywood. While the KGC in Berks County did reference the abduction of President Lincoln as part of their oath, it's a leap to say that they were plotting his assassination in the dead of night.

From the American Heroes Channel's TV schedule that was just posted for October 28, it looks like the Civil War show containing the Knights segment will air at 10 p.m. (EST)."